To search or not to search

Are you a packrat? Do you save everything? I save every email, every chat, every snippet of information on my computer. I can go back 8+ years of emails and files to the tune of 40 GB of storage. With drives getting bigger and badder, I am able to keep all of my data on one main PC. This can not be done without a sound backup and archive plan. I got burned once when my system crashed.

Yes, Linux zealots, it was a Windows machine :-), But since then, I backup at the end of each day (automated). My point is that I love how great desktop search applications are getting. I love being able to search my whole computer for information as well as my network. It is fabulous.

What are some of the desktop search applications available today for both Windows and Linux?

In addition, Windows Vista has desktop search embedded throughout the operating system and MAC OS X Tiger already has desktop search (Spotlight) capabilities. I think we are entering an arena where we need the ability to quickly obtain our information.